Should CNN Fire Robert Novak

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Poll question: Should CNN Fire Robert Novak

for releasing the fact that Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife was a CIA agent ?

He ruined her career, jeopordaized her life ,and her contacts lives as well.........

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. We Should Deluge Them With E-Mails

Boycott their studios.....


Get George Soros to pop for a full page ad in The New York Times....

[graham67]

2. Just Curious...

someone voted no???? Wanna expand on why he shouldn't lose his job?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. Closet Freepers

or people who love to mess up polls...

[sujan]

41. I voted no

[Armstead]

8. I did

He's a reporter (and a damn good one, despite his awful politics).

Reporters are supposed to cover stories. Even if the truth is awkward. We would want no less for stories favorable to our positions.

He's a jerk, but he shouldn't suffer professional retaliation for doing his job. That's called the "chilling effect" and would backfire on all journalism by making reporters even more timid that they are now..

[liberalhistorian]

12. EXCUSE ME?

This was not some investigative scoop where the government was covering up something the public had a right to know. This was an ILLEGAL revelation of an undercover CIA agent's identity which is, as it damn well should be, a federal crime. He endangered her life and the lives of those she worked directly with, and he did it out of pure spite and malice, NOT "journalistic integrity" or out of any belief that the public needed to know!

[Armstead]

16. It was a news story

There are probably potential laws against almost everything a reporter might say. Corporations and political bullies are expert at using them to apply pressure to silence the media and critics. It's one reason we don't get any news.

I won't call Wilson's story "routine" but Novak was, in a sense, simply relaying a position from a White House source to explain their position.

Journalists need to be careful and exercise caution and judgement.

But if everytime a reporter writes something edgy they have to fear being fired or tossed in the slammer, then all we are going to get is news of high-school car washes and church bake sales.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. Where Was The Story?

What did Joe Wilson's wife have to do with anything?

It sounds like obstruction of justice to me.....


If I learn of a covert criminal investigation and I make the subject aware I will be charged with obstruction of justice....

I think Novak is a traitor...

[Birthmark]

14. But he wasn't reporting anything.

In this case there was no story. This wasn't a case of getting inside information on a story. It was a politically motivated leak that had nothing to do with anything. This woman wasn't "doing anything", she was a means to an end. It was also a crime.

Mr. Novak should be arrested, tried, and thrown in prison when he is found guilty. If he wants to provide the name of the criminal who released this information, then fine, we can cut down his sentence. If not, have fun in prison Mr. Novak.

[fedupwithbush]

18. Didn't say he should reveal his sources but

he proved by printing her name and job that he has no morals or ethics. He has outed himself totally by being the messenger for a smear campaign. Her name and job did not improve, clarify, or in fact have anything to do with the actual story. He put other people's lives in danger just because he could. I never have been able to stomach Novak, but I didn't see him as a total sell-out at all cost newsperson, like some on Faux. He's now proven he's worse than them. And I e-mailed Crossfire and said they should fire him. This man has proven there is nothing he won't do to help the Republican party, no matter how low or despicable it is.

[jrthin]

19. This "reporter" jeopardized the

life of this CIA operative and the lives of many of her sources. This "reporter" in essence undermined this country and showed his lack of judgement.

[Minstrel Boy]

38. The real story was that

a White House source was breaking a CIA agent's cover to score political points. If he'd told that story, without naming Wilson's wife, then I'd think him a journalist.

[Terwilliger]

48. Novak is a political hack who's been in Washington for decades

he should have known that the piece of information he was disseminating could potentially be a crime. He knowingly, willfully parroted what the "senior administration officials" said because he wanted to attack Wilson.

He should be arrested and thrown in jail. Other people who had less political reasons for divulging names of operatives are considered big-time traitors.

Novak is a traitor.

[Terwilliger]

49. Got an error message the first time

sorry for the dupe

[proud patriot]

10. I voted no

My reason , I feel journalists should be free to
accept Leaks , without fear of reprisal.

Even though this leak and the story pisses me off
and I feel Novak should of known better . In the broad
general sense I think it would be a bad precedent to
charge any reporter for writing about a leak .

[RobertSeattle]

11. I agree

Novak was the MESSenger...

[jrthin]

23. I guess you'd be happy if the US were involved

in a strike against a terrorist org. and a reporter discovered this fact and printed it.

What Novak did was wrong.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. Or If A Reporter Announced To The World The D Day Plans Ahead Of

Time....

[boxster]

32. I tend to disagree.

I think that it should have been obvious to Novak that outing a CIA agent on national TV had to violate laws and was, at the very least, extraordinarily improper.

He knew exactly what he was doing. Knowingly violating Federal laws under the guise of journalism just isn't acceptable to me in this case.

[mandyky]

3. CNN and whatever papers he works for!

I am not sure he said this stuff on air, but the papers need to address this. Wonder who the editors in question are...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. I Think It Was In The Washington Post.....

This story has legs......

We need to Kick it.....

[eleny]

5. Why isn't Begala pounding him on Crossfire?

[mndemocrat_29]

56. My guess is that Begala and Novak are good friends

They may fight about issues on the show, but they seem like really good friends.

[Racenut20]

7. Need to prosecute him

Cite him with contempt if he don't name the White House source and let him sit in jail like they did Susan McDougal.

[roguevalley]

9. at the very least, put on leave

I suppose the press will get all nasal and
assume they have to rally around a traitor.
Bob is a potential accessory to murder
before the fact. No one can assume people
aren't being killed today over this.

I hate them all.

[Renew Deal]

13. Not yet, carry him out in shackles first.

:hurts:

[walkon]

15. Thank Robert Novak

If he hadn't put this story out we wouldn't be on the verge of an open, ongoing scandal. Then charge him if he has committed a crime and offer him a plea agreement if he tells all to congressional investigation. Leave it to CNN as to their standards of employment.

Novak was as anti-war as any journalist out there. Wonder if he calculated the risk to himself vs. damage to the slime who fed him the info?

[w13rd0]

17. Novak has an established history...

...of lying and carrying water for criminal acts. That's not journalism, that's closer to psyops or something. He shouldn't be fired for the Wilson affair, he should be fired because he's a fraud.

[JitterbugPerfume]

24. Fire him????

they should never have hired the old fu @@ er

They get what they deserve

Journalistic integrety?


lives are involved....more like revenge

[rogerashton]

20. Fire at him

with a large-caliber ... uh, we liberals don't say things like that, do we?

[fedupwithbush]

21. Watch Crossfire today.

He's going to make a statement. :puke:

[Peachhead22]

22. I voted "other"

According to Wolf Blitzer, Novak will be discussing this @ 4:30 ET on Crossfire. I'm hoping he resigns/retires from CNN and journalism and reveals his sources (since he no longer be needing sources). Preferably on national TV. I realize I'm most likely dreaming.

That's where my "other" vote comes in. IMO he should be given till the end of today to resign and possibly reveal his sources (to the authorities, at least). If he doesn't do that, he should be fired at 12:01 AM tomorrow morning. One minute after the deadline.

[roguevalley]

28. This story isn't about reporter-source privilege.

this is about breaking the law, committing treason and
getting people killed, not just the control's agents but
Americans who are no longer as safe as they were.

No one is above the law. No one.

Novak knew what he was doing. he wasn't doing his job. he
was helping someone with paybacks. his job doesn't protect
him anymore than my job would.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

34. Bingo

The First Amendment protects you from the government not your boss......

I wonder where folks get that idea from....

[AP]

26. Now that he's the news (and a potential felon), at least put on leave

[not systems]

27. I say no

Novak is a reporter and reported what the WH was leaking.

He may have done it knowing that it would blowup in
their neo-con faces.

I want the press to print what highly placed leakers
are leaking.

I want the next pentagon papers to see print.

Novak is right winger but the 1st amendment must be
protected and he should be protected by it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. The First Amendment Only Protects You From The Government

It doesn't protect you from your employer....

Novak had the right to say it and CNN has the right to fire him....


And I am a First Amendment absolutist...

[not systems]

yes of course

But unless the media stands up for reporters rights in
1st amendment cases it send a chill message encouraging
self censorship by other reporters in the future.

I consider myself a first amendment pragmatist not
an absolutist. It might exist but if people using
it get black balled it is useless.

[dfitzsim]

37. I agree

What was Novak to do? Turn the information over to Ashcroft? Please. He did what reporters do - he put it out to the public. Hopefully there will be sufficent outrage and perhaps a special prosecuter.

[Supply Side Jesus]

30. Think Novak wants to bring WH to their knees?

From some of his writings I gather he isn't all to fond of the current squaters, even though he does his duty to the party.
Or prehaps he loaths Rove so much he printed the story knowing Rove's head will roll.
Just theorizing(sp).

[boxster]

33. You know, I had the same thought last night.

He already got Rove fired once (allegedly), so maybe he's trying to do so again.

On a similar thought, suppose anyone in the administration who hates Rove could have put Novak up to it?

[ignatius]

35. Yes and put in jail for breaking the law, putting other

undercover agents at risk, and for putting our country's security at risk.

The leak should join him in his prison stay.

[Armstead]

36. Put the shoe on the other foot, folks

I hate defending Novak, but in this case...

It is inexcusable what the unnamed White House sources did, and they should walk the plank. Perhaps Novak deserves to be reprimanded for not thinking more clearly about what he was doing when he wrote that column.

But you shouldn't go on a witchunt against reporters. You should put the shoe on the other foot. If this story were about some abuse of national security, I assume you'd want to know about it. Right now, in this instance, the CIA are seen as the good guys. But sometimes they are capable of stepping over lines and also of being used for political purposes. Remember Chile in the 70's, and Nicaragua in the 80's. And Vietnam in the 50's and 60's. And remember Watergate and some of the, er, fancy footwork reporters like Woodward and Bernstein had to use.

If a reporter suffers retaliation -- professional or legal -- everytime they eitehr make mistakes or stir up controversy, then you might as well kiss what's left of the First Amendment good bye.

[ignatius]

39. He named the person thus putting her in harms way and

obviously any one connected to her thus destroying many years of work and jeopardizing all their lives.

Naming her, IMHO, is the difference that put him over the line.

[oldcoot]

47. Ethics

Why shouldn't Novak be fired? He violated the ethics of his profession. Novak's story was about Ambassador Wilson, it was not about Valerie Plame. He could have easily written that story without exposing her and possibly endangering her life. It would be much easier to forgive him if he were a novice reporter, eagerly covering his first story. However, Novak is not a novice. He should have known better. Indeed, other reporters were offered the same information from the same White House officials but refused to run with it. This indicates that they realized that it would be unethical to expose a CIA agent for a story.

Considering these other reporters were willing to pass on the information, we should ask ourselves why Novak decided to expose Plame. Was he serving as a tool for a vindictive administration?

Now let's pretend Novak was a liberal reporter with close ties with a Democratic administration. Would I favor firing him if he exposed the identity of CIA operative in a story about a whistle-blower? Yes, I would favor firing him.

We also should consider the consequences of Novak's actions. Ironically, more people may be afraid to speak to the press about this administration's abuses because they are afraid that personal information might be revealed about their families.

[elfin]

40. No BUT

They should release him from journalistic ethic (what ethics?) of protecting source and DEMAND that the WH do the same.

[Jacobin]

42. The name of a CIA agent is not/was not newsworthy

He was complicit in the WH attempt to punish Wilson and he committed a treasonous act.

Fork him.

[ignatius]

43. "The name of a CIA agent is not/was not newsworthy" The naming of

a covert CIA operative may not be newsworthy(is their a list somewhere) but it is illegal.

Section 421 of the Itelligence Identification Protection Act of 1982.

"Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both."

He has been around long enough to know this, or certainly his editors would know.

He and The leak should both go down.

[plcdude]

53. I think that about

settles the discussion. It seems that the peanlty is not very stiff but of course the careers for these people are over as well. Thanks for your work.

[Loyal]

44. Well

They should have fired him years ago, cause he's a boring winger, but yes, they definitely should for this, too. :)

[Loyal]

45. I voted yes,

as I said, but maybe I can offer an explanation as to why some people voted No. Maybe they believe, as I do, that he is such a crappy representative of the right wing that he makes them all look stupid, and so that's a good thing. You gotta admit, Tucker Carlson gets his points across much better than Bob Novak, even though I can't stand either. Similarly, I believe that Paul Begala gets his points across better than James Carville does on Crossfire.

[ShaneGR]

46. Ask me that question in 2 hours

I want to see what he says on Crossfire.

[janekat]

50. Cahnged my vote to "NO" Novak is trying to bring Bush/Rove down!!

[w4rma]

51. Wilson … said … would be a violation … by the officials, not the columnist

CIA seeks probe of White House

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that the White House broke federal laws by revealing the identity of one of its undercover employees in retaliation against the woman’s husband, a former ambassador who publicly criticized President Bush’s since-discredited claim that Iraq had sought weapons-grade uranium from Africa, NBC News has learned.
…
http://www.msnbc.com/news/937524.asp?0cv=CB10
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=135657

Rice 'Knew Nothing' About CIA Agent Leak

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday she knew "nothing of any" White House effort to leak the identity of an undercover CIA officer in July, a charge now under review at the Justice Department.

On the "Fox News Sunday" program, the top aide to President Bush said, "This has been referred to the Justice Department. I think that is the appropriate place for it."

Rice said the White House would cooperate should the Justice Department, headed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, decide to proceed with a criminal investigation of the matter, which centers on the alleged public disclosure of the wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger in 2002 to investigate a report that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Niger, but returned to say it was highly doubtful.
…
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030928/ts_nm/iraq_intelligence_probe_dc&cid=564&ncid=1480
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=136932

A White House smear

Did senior Bush officials blow the cover of a US intelligence officer working covertly in a field of vital importance to national security—and break the law—in order to strike at a Bush administration critic and intimidate others?

It sure looks that way, if conservative journalist Bob Novak can be trusted.
…
The sources for Novak’s assertion about Wilson’s wife appear to be “two senior administration officials.” If so, a pair of top Bush officials told a reporter the name of a CIA operative who apparently has worked under what’s known as “nonofficial cover” and who has had the dicey and difficult mission of tracking parties trying to buy or sell weapons of mass destruction or WMD material. If Wilson’s wife is such a person—and the CIA is unlikely to have many employees like her—her career has been destroyed by the Bush administration. (Assuming she did not tell friends and family about her real job, these Bush officials have also damaged her personal life.) Without acknowledging whether she is a deep-cover CIA employee, Wilson says, “Naming her this way would have compromised every operation, every relationship, every network with which she had been associated in her entire career. This is the stuff of Kim Philby and Aldrich Ames.” If she is not a CIA employee and Novak is reporting accurately, then the White House has wrongly branded a woman known to friends as an energy analyst for a private firm as a CIA officer. That would not likely do her much good.

This is not only a possible breach of national security; it is a potential violation of law. Under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, it is a crime for anyone who has access to classified information to disclose intentionally information identifying a covert agent. The punishment for such an offense is a fine of up to $50,000 and/or up to ten years in prison. Journalists are protected from prosecution, unless they engage in a “pattern of activities” to name agents in order to impair US intelligence activities. So Novak need not worry.

Novak tells me that he was indeed tipped off by government officials about Wilson’s wife and had no reluctance about naming her. “I figured if they gave it to me,” he says. “They’d give it to others....I’m a reporter. Somebody gives me information and it’s accurate. I generally use it.” And Wilson says Novak told him that his sources were administration officials.
…
http://thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=823
http://www.arbiteronline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/07/23/3f1f5fa79c206
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=18072&mesg_id=18072&page=
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=5913&mesg_id=5913&page=

…
Novak, in an interview, said his sources had come to him with the information. “I didn't dig it out, it was given to me,” he said. “They thought it was significant, they gave me the name and I used it.”

Wilson and others said such a disclosure would be a violation of the law by the officials, not the columnist.

Novak reported that his “two senior administration officials” told him that it was Plame who suggested sending her husband, Wilson, to Niger.
…
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscia0722,0,2346857.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=2326&mesg_id=2326&page=

A War on Wilson?
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,465270,00.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=18113&mesg_id=18113&page=

White House striking back?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/942095.asp?0cv=CA01

Schumer Urges FBI Probe Into Iraq Leaks
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030724/ap_on_go_ot/schumer_agent_1

Probes Expected in ID of CIA Officer
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscia233384176jul23,0,5461415.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-print

The Bush Administration Adopts a Worse-than-Nixonian Tactic: The Deadly Serious Crime Of Naming CIA Operatives by John W. Dean
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030815.html

[karlschneider]

52. I voted no also. If he had not exposed this, we may have never known.

:eyes:

[qb]

54. Novak wasn't acting as a whistle-blower, he was acting as a tool

for the vindictive fucks in the White House who wanted to punish Wilson. If he had any journalistic ethics he would have protected Plame's identity and blown the whistle on the W.H. officials who were trying to out her.

[jmatthan]

55. Not being American, I voted OTHER

because I want to know why the US requires Undercover agents and covert operations. Isn't your system good enough to win hearts and minds with such destabilising factors as such operatives.

I do not know who Novak is and whether he is a good or bad journalist.

If I were to discover someone was spying for anyone - I would immediately write about it and expose it.

Would you condone someone who was spying on you or your wife - John Ashcrofts Patriot Act?

Or do we all accept John Ashcroft's premise that it is important to spy on everyone who is against your viewpoint?

Regards

Jacob Matthan
http://www.findians.com/educated.html
(Present day Archie Bunker?)
Oulu, Finland

[mndemocrat_29]

57. Karl Rove should be fired

for the leak. Rove is a corrupt official and should be in prison. Novak should be fired, though unless I see a law, I don't know if he should generally go to prison. Rove is allegedly the one who leaked this, so he definitely should go to prison, but I'm not sure about Novak.